Rose Red
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: It all happened in a split second, and a single mistake left them all wondering how they could have gone so wrong
1. Chapter 1

Note From The Author—Okay, I'm not so happy with the first part of this, mostly because I had four amazingly beautiful pages written when I accidentally pushed an unknown button and erased the entire thing and could not get it back no matter what I did. So I stared into space muttering 'four pages, four pages' for about five minutes, cried for about that long, then sucked it up and tried my best to recreate what I had already written. I know instinctively that what I reconstructed isn't as good as what it originally was, but hey, life happens. Anyway, for the purposes of this story that I couldn't seem to get out of my head Finn and Rachel briefly dated post babygate, but they didn't work out and now she and Puck have rekindled their romance. Hopefully you enjoy; that is if my rambling note didn't scare you off ;)

Disclaimer—I don't own the characters of Glee

* * *

How did we get here? How the hell?

The line was playing on a loop in her head, and Rachel found herself wishing that it would just fucking stop. She couldn't even bring herself to scold herself for the language in her inner dialogue because everything was royally and completely screwed up.

The song was just repeating over and over in her head, and along with it came the questions. How could they have been so stupid? How could they have let an argument go so horribly wrong?

There didn't seem to be any answers, but the guilt and the pain wouldn't go away; and despite the fact that she was pressed against an almost feverish body she couldn't seem to get warm. So she nuzzled her face into the crook of Noah's neck and went back over the horrible day moment by moment in the hopes of figuring out when the hell everything had gone so very wrong.

* * *

It had started out as a normal day, or at least as normal as things ever were for the kids of McKinley those days. Rachel had gone to the gym to watch Puck at basketball practice like she did every week, basking in the glow of the relationship they had rekindled after a failed try at her and Finn that they had kept going for more than a month by that point. Finn had been at the practice too, of course, and he had spent the majority of the afternoon shaking his head at the looks his former best friend was shooting his girlfriend.

Everything had gone downhill when Quinn had showed up.

At first she had only sat next to Rachel, watching the father of her baby and her ex on the court. Then she had opened her mouth and everything had gone to hell.

"It's not fair," she said quietly.

Rachel turned to the other girl with her mouth open, not sure if she was more shocked by the words or the tears she saw in the blue eyes that looked back at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Perhaps, but I'd still like an explanation as to why you seem to be implying that it's my fault."

Quinn shook her head. "You've got it all. I lost Finn because of all of this. He doesn't want me anymore, but neither does the father of my baby."

She looked positively bowled over by her words. "And how exactly would that be my fault?" she questioned, her voice raising with every word. "You slept with Noah, then you tried to keep him from the baby's life and pass her off as Finn's! You lied to everyone and made Noah feel like he was nothing even after he offered to help you! He chose me, and none of what you're going through is my fault."

"You just don't get it!" she cried, rising to her feet and looking down at her.

"Clearly I don't!" she shot back, standing up to restore the balance after Quinn's attempt at intimidation. "Noah gives you money whenever he can, he takes you to your appointments and he does everything he can to keep you and that baby safe and healthy! What else do you want?!" Then her heart broke when she heard the Glee clubber's next words.

"I just want someone to love me again," she whispered as tears slipped down her cheeks.

A heavy silence fell through the room as those words seemed to hang over them. It was only then that either of them realized that the entire basketball team, coaching staff, and the few students present were staring at them and hanging on their every word. For a moment that eerie silence seemed to permeate everything. Then it was shattered with a single sentence.

"Don't you dare blame Rachel for what you brought down on yourself."

Both girls turned their surprised eyes towards Finn, who was clutching a basketball in his hands that looked like it might give under the pressure at any moment. Puck reached out and put a hand on his former best friend's shoulder. "Not here, dude."

Finn just shook him off angrily as she stalked over to the bleachers and up. "Everything that you're dealing with right now is your own fault. You and Puck did this, not anyone else!"

To both of their surprise, Rachel frowned and put a protective arm around the blonde at her side, pulling her protectively against her. "Finn Hudson, don't you dare yell at her that way," she said sternly. "I don't care what you do later but you will not treat her like this in her condition."

"Seriously, Hudson," Puck added as he sprinted up the bleachers to the three of them. "I don't give a shit how much you yell at her in a couple of months, but until that kid comes out you're not doing anything to even sort of hurt Quinn or my kid."

"Noah's absolutely right," Rachel told him primly. "You know I'm sorry that you were hurt by what happened, but you have no right to speak to her like this while she's in an already fragile physical and emotional state."

His eyes widened. "No right?" he cried. "After what these two did to me you're still going to say I have no right? I expected this from you Puck," Finn said as he shot his teammate a scowl over his shoulder. "But from you, Rachel?"

Puck reached out to grip his shoulder in a hard warning. "You had better be really careful about what you say right now buddy. I know you have some sort of misguided feelings for Rachel but if you say a word against her I will rip you apart," he said dangerously.

"Misguided feelings? Do you even know what misguided means?!" he asked cruelly. "In case you didn't notice, Puck." The name was almost spat. "I kissed Rachel first, I dated her first, I sang with her first. You're just picking up my sloppy seconds." He shot a glance at Quinn before returning his attention to the man in front of him. "Again."

He was really lucky that it was Rachel who got to him first. As it was the slap stung like a bitch as it cracked against his cheek and echoed throughout the room. The spectators of their little show watched incredulously as McKinley's very own soap opera played out before their eyes; everyone staying completely silent as they feared a single sound would break the spell that seemed to have fallen over the four teenagers in the bleachers to block out the rest of the world.

"If you ever so much as think of speaking about me or Quinn that way again, Finn Hudson, I will personally see to it that you reach your demise. In case it's completely slipped your mind you may have kissed me, but you also manipulated my feelings for you to get me to come back to Glee, kissed me while you were still with Quinn, then dropped me like a hot potato when it seemed like someone else was even the vaguest bit interested in you. Noah has done a lot of things, but he has never once treated me the way that you treated me. He may have done some rude, petty things, but he never tried to buy his way out of it with excuses or puppy dog eyes; so you just think long and hard before another word comes out of your mouth, because Noah and I have gotten past whatever issues we may have had, and you've treated me just as poorly as anyone else has."

Finn's eyes widened as her words hit him. He had never looked at it that way, but as he reached out to her she just shook her head and pulled a sobbing Quinn into a tight hug. He didn't quit, and Puck whirled him around by the arm. "Lay a hand on my girlfriend Hudson and I swear to God I will kill your ass faster than you can call for you mother," he growled, his eyes darkening.

"Please just stop," Quinn whimpered against Rachel's shoulder. But they were too far gone to stop now. 

"Oh shut it, Puckerman!" The name was almost spat. "You talk a big game but you don't even have the balls to be a real man. You've always wanted everything I've had. You play the same sports as me, you go after the same girls as me, you decided to play an instrument because I did, and you joined Glee club after I did; all because your daddy walked out on you and your family and you couldn't find anyone else in your pathetic little life to look up to other than me."

Quinn and Rachel gasped at the low blow that had just been dealt, and they could both see pain they had never known was there shining through Noah's eyes; but he remained admirably stoic and somehow managed to keep from losing it. "You don't know dick about my family, Hudson; and considering the shit you just spewed you clearly don't know a damn thing about me or Rachel." He punctuated the sentence with a shove. "You're, right. I wanted to be like you because I always figured you were a better guy than me, but obviously I got that completely wrong. I'm not the Lima loser, you are. So do us all a favor and stay the hell away from me, keep the hell away from Quinn, and don't even think for a second about going near Rachel" He was right up in taller boy's face by then, his icy tone of voice brooking no argument. "Because if you even so much as look at either of them, think one more thought against them, or say a word about them I will put you in the ground."

Noah gave him another hard shove, sending him stumbling down a step before he made his way two steps up to where the girls were standing. Seeing both of them crying made him frown and he wrapped his arms around Rachel, his hand coming to rest somewhat awkwardly against Quinn's belly as he asked them both if they would be okay.

Later Finn would wonder what the hell he had been thinking, but in the moment all he could see was the way Rachel tucked herself against Puck's chest even as she held tight to Quinn and the way that the guy who had once been his best friend laid a soft kiss to his girlfriend's temple with a tenderness neither of them had ever known was possible. They looked like one big fucking happy family, and Puck had everything Finn had ever wanted and deserved. He couldn't seem to think, only feel the rage and the sadness that was coursing through him; which was why he did what he did next.

The ball Finn had been unintentionally trying to pop for the past ten minutes was suddenly flying through the air, and Puck thankfully caught it out of the corner of his eye soon enough to turn and take the full brunt of the blow. But Rachel was still tucked against him, meaning Quinn was still attached, and the force of the ball sent them sprawling to the bleachers.

A gasp rose up as Finn helplessly watched the chaos he had unintentionally created. Puck couldn't stop himself falling, but Rachel blessedly had the presence of mind to wrench her body around and take the full brunt of Quinn's fall, cushioning her and the baby. Unfortunately it meant that her head connected hard with the wood and the sound echoed through the room as stars burst in front of her eyes.

As soon as they were able both Quinn and Puck scrambled to their knees, hovering over Rachel, whose eyes were still squeezed shut. As Puck carefully ran his hands over her for any sign of injury Quinn took her hand. "Rachel, please say something," she begged.

"Owww," she moaned as brown eyes fluttered open and her gaze shifted between the two of them. "Tell me that didn't just happen."

"It happened," Noah growled, pushing to his feet and reaching Finn in record time. The shell shocked teen didn't even see him coming, and Puck's punch landed square in the middle of his face. "What the hell were you thinking?! Do you have any idea what you could have done?"

"Noah don't," Rachel pleaded as Quinn helped her sit up. "It's not worth it."

He shook his head. "Oh but it is. Of all the brainless things you've ever done Hudson this one..."

"Shut the hell up, Puck!" Finn cut him off, removing his hand from his bleeding nose. "No matter who you're with or what you do you're no fucking better than me."

Everyone present would have loved to say that they there in time to stop the violence, but everyone was seemed to have been shocked into stillness. Things were way out of hand by the time any of them were spurred to movement, and everyone seemed powerless to stop what was coming down the pike.

Rachel and Quinn made it slowly to their feet once the former's world stopped spinning and by the time they made it things were already completely out of hand. Finn and Puck were in the middle of a brawl that had them teetering precariously on the edge of the seats, arms and legs flying in a crazy melee that nobody knew how to cease.

"Stop it!" Quinn shouted. "Just stop!"

Rachel saw what was coming with stunning clarity, and even with her head aching she managed to surge to her feet. "Quinn, no!"

But it was too late. In her attempt to stop the fight, Quinn only managed to get right in the middle of the two angry boys, both of whom far outweighed and overpowered her. Rachel managed to snag her hand, but all it could do was pull her into the hurricane.

It happened in a split second. A foot caught on a step, twin screams echoed through the room, and when the dust cleared Finn and Puck could only look down in horror at the girls who lay on the gym floor with a sickening pool of blood spreading beneath them.

* * *

Note From The Author—Please don't kill me for the cliffhanger! And I promise I don't hate Finn!


	2. Chapter 2

Note From the Author—Holy feedback, Batman! Thank you all so much for your amazing comments! I hope I continue to do you proud

Puck was sure he would never forget the sight of the blood that spread beneath the two most important people in his life; it was too starkly bright against the wood floor of the gym, and still brighter against his skin which was pale and drawn. It reminded him absurdly of one of his sister's fairytale books, and the blood on the heroine's hands when she pricked her finger on a thorn.

They hadn't let him go in the ambulance.

The paramedics had gotten their stunningly fast, and they had pulled Noah away from Rachel's unconscious form as soon as they made it. Some dip shit had called the cops too, so it was Mr. Schue who climbed into the ambulance with the girls while Finn and Puck were left helplessly behind to make their statements.

Well, Finn tried his best to make a statement, but Puck trusted the would-be witnesses to get it right and retreated into his head and to the damning thoughts that were swirling through his mind. He may not have been the smartest guy around, but he was far from a complete idiot; he knew what that much blood meant. Most of it had come from Quinn, and he was trying to convince himself he was wrong if only for his own sanity. Rachel hadn't woken before they left either, and he couldn't seem to help but wonder if he was going to lose them both.

"Puck." The gentle voice startled him out of his reverie, and he looked up to find Tina standing in front of him with the rest of the Glee club behind her. They were all looking at him with concern and pity in their eyes, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to feel anything but the guilt and worry that was coursing through his blood like a bad drug. "Puck, let's get you cleaned up, okay?"

It was only then that he looked back down at his hands to be faced again with the inescapable consequences of his own stupidity. He couldn't seem to say a word, just sit there with his beautiful green eyes muddy with everything he was feeling, and Tina seemed to be the only one who was brave enough to deal with him in this state.

Just as gently as she had spoken, she took his hand in hers, not caring about the blood. Slowly and carefully she walked him into the locker room and sat him down near the sink. He barely registered the feeling of the warm water against his skin as she patiently worked to clean the blood from his hands, arms and face.

It all brought back the memory of him and Rachel that first time they had been together, the way she had gently rinsed the corn syrup and food coloring from his hair and the way she had kissed his forehead before she had walked away. White hot fear caught suddenly in his chest and he reached out to clutch at Tina's hand. But still the words wouldn't come, just tears he would never have imagined shedding as the reality really hit him. He had caused this. The girl he was quickly falling for and the mother of his baby were in the hospital because of him and Finn and their stupid macho bullshit, and he could never take that back.

Tina saw the tears, and felt them triggering her own, but she didn't say a word. She knew that nothing she said in that moment would be enough, and nothing would convince him that he wasn't to blame. She just sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him with no idea whether or not he would be willing to take the offered comfort. But as soon as she touched him, something inside him broke, and before he could even think he was holding her fast against him in a fierce hug.

It was over almost as soon as it began, but he was more grateful than he could possibly express for the support she had offered him. Neither of them spoke as she cleaned the last of the blood from his face. His shirt was completely shot so there wasn't much she could do about that, but she could rinse the last of the red from the washcloth in her hand and make sure it swirled down the drain and out of his sight.

"Kurt and I are going to take you and Finn to the hospital, okay?" she asked quietly. He just nodded and stood, heading quickly back to the gym.

He and Finn didn't say a word to each other as they climbed into Kurt's car. There didn't seem any point now. At first there had been some debate between the Glee kids as to whether Finn should even go, but he had convinced them that he needed to be there no matter what happened to try and make amends for what had happened.

They were all disconcerted by Puck's continued silence, but when he did finally speak they almost wished he hadn't. His hoarse voice seemed unnaturally loud after the silence, and the haunted look in his eyes carried more than even his words could say. "What did we do?"

* * *

Puck didn't say another word for the rest of the car ride to the hospital, so when he walked into the waiting room to find the Berry Dads waiting there and burst in to rapid fire speech, needless to say the others were a bit taken aback.

"Where's Rachel? Is she okay? Have they said anything about Quinn?"

Rachel's Dad put his hand on the young man's shoulder in what appeared to be a completely fruitless attempt to calm him. "Rachel is being taken care of right now. So far it appears that her left wrist is broken and a couple of ribs were cracked by the fall. She has a mild concussion but it didn't do any kind of permanent damage as far as they can tell. They wanted to keep her overnight but Rachel is fighting them tooth and nail and they'll likely send her home under our care as soon as they finish her cast."

Puck took a gulping breath, not having realized he had been holding it. "Okay, she's okay." He deflated as the adrenaline fled his body. "Shit. I'm so sorry for what happened."

"Me too," Finn said, stepping up next to his former best friend. "We were complete idiots; me worst of all."

Rachel's Daddy's eyes were kind when he regarded the two of them. "We got a chance to talk to Rachel and she told us what happened. Idiocy seems to be an epidemic today since she said the exact same thing about herself. All in all I would say that this whole thing was just an awful mistake."

Finn nodded, but Noah couldn't seem to simply let it go. Feeling like he was going to cry, he prepared to ask the one question that had been haunting him since he'd seen Rachel and Quinn on the floor. "Have they told you anything about Quinn?" he questioned hesitantly.

"No," Mr. Berry said sadly as he shook his head. "They haven't been able to tell us anything as we aren't her guardians. Rachel tried to call the Fabrays but they won't answer the calls. They took her to work on fairly quickly and all Rachel could really tell us was that Quinn was conscious and scared. Mr. Schue went to see if he could get them to listen."

"I'll go back to the school and see if Ms. Pillsbury or Principal Figgins can get them to answer. Can't hurt to hit them from all sides," Tina injected.

Everyone had quite forgotten that she and Kurt were even there, but the possibility of them taking something off of their already overloaded plates was more than welcome. "Thank you, Tina." Mr. Berry told her. "That would be very helpful."

She and Kurt took off, but Finn insisted on staying. Puck didn't quite know what to do with himself. Rachel's dads were usually pretty okay with him, but this was a completely unusual circumstance; not to mention the fact that his mind was reeling with the possibilities of what could be going on wherever Quinn was.

But he didn't have a lot of time to think about it, as Rachel appeared from around a corner at that moment, seeming to be doing a rather effective job of intimidating her doctor into bending to her will.

"I assure you that I will be perfectly safe," she told him primly. "My Daddy is a physician so I'm in excellent hands."

The chastised doctor gave up and gave in. He simply nodded at the tiny dynamo in front of him, and with a look of intense satisfaction on her face and a bright pink cast on her arm she turned to face the room. When she caught sight of Noah her eyes filled with tears and despite the fact that she was clearly banged up, she ran to him and launched herself into his arms.

Puck held her carefully so as not to do any further damage, but he held her as close as he could and buried his face in her hair. "I'm so sorry, baby," he told her in a hoarse whisper.

She shook her head. "It wasn't just your fault, Noah. We were all stupid, but once it started you couldn't have stopped it."

"How are you?" he asked her, pulling back to look her up and down and catalog the bumps and bruises.

"I'm fine," she said soothingly. "But how are you? Have we heard anything about Quinn?"

Everyone's face seemed to fall simultaneously at the thought. "They won't tell us anything," Finn answered. Tina and Kurt went to see if Ms. P or Principal Figgins could get her parents to answer."

"Oh. Oh, Noah," she whispered. The worry and guilt in his eyes shone bright as a candle, and once again she wrapped him in her arms. "It's going to be okay." It just had to be.

* * *

When they hadn't heard anything after another half hour the Berry Dads trouped the kids out to the car and back to their house for a much needed hot meal and some rest. Though Puck and Finn wanted to stay, they had still been unable to rouse the Fabrays so it seemed pointless to stay at the hospital when they could just as easily worry with the added comfort of chairs that weren't hard plastic. None of them were holding out hope that they would be able to forget what was at stake, but they also figured it couldn't hurt to try.

So they all had some soup and good hearty bread, and then sat staring into space.

Rachel and her fathers shared a worried look at the state of the boys, and almost simultaneously they sprang into action, Rachel standing gingerly to hold out a hand to Puck while her fathers encouraged Finn to hit the couch. "Come on, Noah," she said quietly.

He took her hand, completely unashamed of the fact that he truly needed her. His world was falling down around him because he had been a jackass; suddenly his badass rep didn't seem to matter at all. Letting her lead him up the stairs seemed perfectly natural, and before he knew it she had him lying down on her bed minus his shoes.

"I'll be back." But before she left, she leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Rest."

She went downstairs for hot chocolate and found Finn already fast asleep on the couch, his brow furrowed even in rest. With a sigh, Rachel made the chocolate and carried it carefully up the stairs; hoping that Noah had dozed off.

Unfortunately she wasn't that lucky, and she found Puck staring at the ceiling with his eyes looking more haunted than before.

"I can't get the picture out of my head," he told her quietly. "You and Quinn at the bottom of those stairs; all that blood spreading out under you like something out of a damn book."

Her heart was aching as she abandoned the mugs on the desk and climbed slowly into the bed with him, mindful of her injuries. She curled up lightly against his side, not sure how much contact he would welcome in that moment. "No one person can shoulder the burden of what happened today," she told him gently. "We all made mistakes and now in a lot of ways we're paying for them, but it could have been worse. Please don't torture yourself over this. It wasn't just you."

"I know that, but I can't stop it. My daughter could be dead right now because Finn and I just couldn't…"

"Noah Puckerman that is enough!" Rachel cried, interrupting his verbal self flagellation as she sat up to regard him sternly. "Stop this right now! We all messed up, we all did and said things we shouldn't have today. This is the last time I'm going to tell you that this WAS NOT YOUR FAULT! You are not alone in this and so help me God I will walk out of that door if you do not quit beating yourself up over this." Her voice gentled as she ran her hand down his cheek and neck to finally settle over his heart. "None of us meant for this to happen, least of all you, so stop this. I don't want to have to walk away, because right now I'd like nothing more than you just holding onto me, but I will leave, Noah."

"Fuck," he half whispered, pressing his hand over hers. "Baby the last thing I want is for you to walk out that door."

"Then stop beating yourself up."

He shook his head. "I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to completely do that, but I can try."

Rachel knew that was the best she was going to get, so she lay back down and tucked herself against him with a contented sigh as he wrapped his arms around her…

And that brought her back to herself and the horrid thoughts that were swirling through her head despite the fact that she had admonished Puck to banish the very same thoughts. It had been close to two hours since they had left the hospital and they were still waiting and wondering. Both Rachel and Noah had been silent the majority of their time in her room as they were both lost in thought; but the ability to take solace in each other had been a balm to sooth their aching hearts.

Just when they were beginning to wonder if they might die from the waiting Rachel's door slammed open and ricocheted off of the wall, revealing Finn standing there. "Tina just called, Ms. P got in touch with Quinn's parents and now Mr. Fabray is talking to your Dad."

They were both already on their feet halfway through the sentence and Puck looked over at Finn hopefully as he pulled on his shoes. "Did they say what happened with Quinn?"

"I don't know, he was still on the phone when I came up to get you guys."

"Let's go," Rachel said impatiently, tugging on Noah's hand.

They made it downstairs in record time to find Rachel's Dad hanging up the phone. "Quinn's okay," he told them with a smile. "They had to do some surgery but she's going to be fine."

"And the baby?" Puck asked with the fear palpable in his voice as he clenched his hand around Rachel's.

The smile stayed in place. "She made it. She was in a lot of distress and they have her in the NICU, but she made it, Noah."

"Okay, okay good," he said dazedly.

Rachel didn't have any time to react before his legs came out from under him and they hit the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Puck knew it was a pussy move, but when he heard that his daughter was alive and well he couldn't seem to control his body any longer. His legs turned to jelly and before he could stop himself he and Rachel were on the floor. There were suddenly tears in his eyes that he hadn't even realized he had been holding back, and Rachel was crooning some sort of assurances in his ear.

As quick as he had fallen apart he came back to himself, and in a split second Rachel's condition occurred to him. "Damn Rachel, I'm sorry," he said on an expelled breath. Carefully, he took a hold of her waist to pull her to her feet. "I forgot about the cast and all this…. Shit."

"Noah, I'm fine," she told him, though the fact that she was wincing gave her away. "I'm going to hurt for a while, it's just inevitable."

Though he was still worried and guilty, the stony look on her face told him he wouldn't be getting her to change her position any time in the near future, so he turned with a sigh to Rachel's dad. "Can we go to the hospital?"

He nodded. "Yes, there's some time left in visiting hours. They'll only let one person at a time see Quinn, and only you and she can see the baby, though."

"That's fine," Finn spoke up. "We just want to know that she's okay."

Rachel and Puck shared a pointed look at the calm comment, but Finn was already halfway to the car before they could comment. Not sure what else to do, they all trouped out the door behind him, Rachel's Daddy getting behind the wheel to drive them back to the hospital.

It was clear as day that Rachel was still in pain, but Noah didn't have a clue what to do for her other than to pull her gently against his side and try to comfort her even while he tried to keep himself from freaking the hell out. He had actually been prepared for the baby not to make it, and the reality that he was about to see her hooked up to a bunch of monitors and tubes scared the crap out of him; he didn't know how to deal with it.

He didn't have a ton of time to figure it out, as Mr. Berry pulled into a parking spot near the Maternal Fetal wing within what seemed like a millisecond. As they all climbed out, he took Rachel's good hand in his own, needing her there to ground him; and once they were connected he led the way into the building.

At the nurse's station, they gave Puck a rundown of the dos and don'ts for when he went to see the baby, warning him that there would be more specific instructions when he got back to the NICU. Quinn was evidently awake and waiting for him so that they could see their daughter together, and as they took him through the doors that separated the waiting room from the rest of the ward he shot Rachel one last fearful look before they swung shut.

Rachel watched him go, and when she could no longer see him she let out a slow breath. With a pained frown on her face she sank into a chair to wait.

"Rachel?" her Dad asked quietly. "Do you need some of your pain killer?"

When she only nodded silently her Daddy bent to kiss her forehead. "You stay here and rest some more, we'll go get your prescription filled and get something for you and Finn to eat. "

When her fathers were gone Rachel seemed to deflate. Her eyes closed and she laid her head back against the wall, the grimace of pain still on her face.

"You don't have to always be strong for him, you know."

Her eyes drifted open and she turned her head to look at Finn, who had taken a seat next to her. "Yes, I do," she told him.

"Rachel, he's stronger than you think, and you can't keep pretending you aren't hurt just so he doesn't worry."

"Finn Hudson, stop shrinking me. I may be hurt, but a broken wrist hardly compares to almost losing your daughter and her mother due to sheer group mentality idiocy."

He winced just a bit as she quite honestly and succinctly laid out the situation. "Still, he cares about you, and trust me if he figured out how much pain you're hiding he'd…"

"What?" she interrupted. "Beat himself up even more over me being hurt along with everything else? He doesn't need that Finn." She leaned her head back again and let her eyes drift shut. "I'll take some pain killer and be perfectly fine and then none of us have to worry about it anymore."

The two of them remained completely silent until the Berrys returned with their sustenance and Rachel's meds. They wolfed down their fries and grilled cheese and she took a pill as soon as she could, then she went back to sitting in closed-eyed silence while her fathers and Finn seemed took turns glancing at her with worry clear on their faces.

With only an hour left in visiting hours and given that Puck and Quinn weren't married, they gently ushered Noah out when it was time for everyone to leave. Though seeing his little girl in an incubator had been wildly terrifying, just having her had made up for all of the fear and the pain that had come along. He and Quinn had had a serious talk while they were in the NICU, and Puck had apologized as profusely as humanly possible, to the point where good old Cheerio Quinn had come out and told him to shut it before she smacked him because it was over and they were moving on.

When he hit the doors he was full to bursting with a description of their daughter, right down to the color of her cheeks and the volume of her cry, but he was met only with a pregnant silence as the three men in the room all stared at a sleeping Rachel with concerned eyes. The tiny girl was sleeping curled up in a chair, though it could barely be called sleep. As Noah watched she began to move jerkily as she whimpered, and he hurried over to her.

"Rach, baby, wake up," he said gently, running a hand over her cheek.

Her eyes popped open almost immediately, and when she saw him she plastered on a happy smile. "Noah, how is Quinn? How's the baby?"

He shot her a wary look at the rapid transition from distress to cheerfulness but answered. "They're both fine, and the baby's beautiful. I'm going to come back first thing tomorrow."

"Tell us all about her," Rachel requested brightly, standing up to take his hand. "I want to hear it all."

"We can cover that all later," he told her, giving her hand a squeeze. "Let's get some rest and we can talk in the morning."

She frowned a bit at his behavior, but the smile came back almost as soon as it flickered. Shrugging it off, she went with him as he and Finn flanked her, following her parents out to the car. As they piled back in, Puck retreated into his mind, trying to decide how to start a conversation about pain, worry and leaning on others with the most stubborn person he knew.

####################################################################################################

They were back at her house and crawling into her bed after a long phone conversation with Puck's mother when he finally worked up the balls to say anything to her. "Rach," he said rather quietly. "You realize that if you're not doing okay you're allowed to tell me, right?"

Her eyes went a shade darker and she got that look that made him want to run and hide in a corner. "I'm going to kill Finn for saying anything," she muttered, her hands twisting angrily in her pillow. "I told him not to worry you."

"Babe," he sighed, rescuing the pillow from her grasp. "Finn didn't say anything to me. You fell down the stairs and broke your wrist, you can't tell me that isn't making you feel some sort of discomfort."

"Honestly Noah, I'm fine."

Puck shook his head. "So why do you look like you broke your heart when we knocked you down those stairs?" he questioned softly.

It was as if he had stuck a pin in her; every last bit of bravado faded and tears rushed to her eyes. "Oh, Noah…"

"Shit Rach don't cry!" He was feeling just a little desperate as he pulled her into his arms. "Just tell me what I can do."

"There's nothing," she told him honestly. "I told you not to beat yourself up over this but all I've been doing is thinking about what we could have done to stop what happened today and how if I had just been nice to Quinn…"

His eyes widened and he pulled away so he could see her face. "You said it yourself; there's nothing we could have done, and it's hard to be nice to Quinn when she's got her bitch on. I mean that shit's just scary."

Rachel let out something between a laugh and a sob as she looked up at him. "You do know how to diffuse tension don't you?" With a sigh she sank back against him, nuzzling her cheek against his chest. "I wanted so badly to be strong for you with this, and here I am crying all over you."

"You spend all your time being strong for yourself and everyone else; it's about time you took a break," Noah told her as he stroked his hand over her hair. "Quinn and the baby are fine, I'm fine, so now it's time for you to let me take care of you."

"You don't have to do that," she murmured sleepily.

"Clearly I do since you're falling asleep on me," he said with a laugh. Careful of her injured arm, he eased them down under the covers, pulling her against him and barely suppressing a sigh of content when she tangled her legs with his. "Anyway, Babe, I want to take care of you. You deserve my total attention. Do you need one of your pills?"

She shook her head. "No, just you."

Those words were some of the best he had heard all day, and suddenly he couldn't seem to hold back. "Rach, I think… I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love with you."

"I know," she whispered, turning to press a kiss over his heart. "Me too."

It was completely unconventional, and therefore completely them; and as Rachel drifted off Puck found himself gazing down at her wondering if he wasn't the luckiest bastard on the planet. It was then that he realized that the rose red of her lips and the shimmer of her skin had finally replaced the image of bloodstained wood that had been invading his mind. And though he was certain it was going to take them a long ass time to get past everything, laying there with her seemed like a pretty good start.

Note from the Author—Okay, so I know I said that I would be continuing this story, but the bottom line is that I simply don't have it in me. I've thought long and hard about where I wanted to go with it and everything I came up with just seemed trite and inappropriate. That being said, I have so loved this story and I'm so glad that you have too, but I cannot in good conscious allow myself to continue when I don't have the heart and produce nothing but forced artificial drivel. Maybe down the road the inspiration for this story will come back, but for now this is the end, and I hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Thanks so much for reading, and hopefully for understanding.


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